wfn.org | Delegates Elect Daniel Preus as LCMS First Vice President

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

July 15, 2001 #8

Contact: Bruce Kueck (314) 342-5715

Delegates elect Daniel Preus as LCMS first vice president

ST. LOUIS -- Delegates to the 61st  regular convention of The Lutheran 
Church Missouri Synod Sunday, July 15, elected the Rev. Daniel Preus of St. 
Louis to his first three-year term as the church body s first vice president.

Preus, 52, was elected on the fourth ballot with 601 votes, or 51 percent 
of the total votes cast. The Rev. William R. Diekelman of Owasso, Okla., 
received 577 votes, or 49 percent.

Other candidates for first vice president included the Rev. Dr. Robert H. 
King of St. Louis; the Rev. Dr. William C. Weinrich of Fort Wayne, Ind.; 
and the Rev. Dr. Dean Nadasdy of Woodbury, Minn. Nadasdy s name was added 
to the ballot, in accordance with LCMS bylaws, after the Rev. Dr. Gerald B. 
Kieschnick was elected as the Synod s 13th president earlier today. 
Kieschnick had been nominated as a candidate for both president and first 
vice president.

The Rev. Herbert C. Mueller Jr., president of the Synod s Southern Illinois 
District, had been nominated from the convention floor as a candidate for 
first vice president, but failed to win the necessary votes from delegates 
to be added to the ballot.

Following the election of Preus by electronic ballot, delegates completed 
paper ballots to nominate candidates for election as second, third and 
fourth vice president. Those results likely will be available tomorrow, 
July 16.

Preus, director of the Concordia Historical Institute, St. Louis, succeeds 
Dr. Robert H. King of Jefferson City, Mo., as first vice president of the 
Synod. He is a 1975 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, 
Ind., and also holds a master of sacred theology degree from the seminary.

Since 1996, Preus has been a member of the board of directors for the 
Lutheran Heritage Foundation. He also has served as a member of the Synod s 
Board for Parish Services and of the Advisory Committee on Church 
Literature of Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.

He has served as pastor to congregations in Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois 
and Colorado.

He and his wife, Linda, have five children.

MEDIA PHOTOGRAPHS: Photos are available at 
www.lcms.org/convention/photos/media/